SLEEVE AND ROD SUPPORT FOR FUEL BLADDER
A flexible fuel bladder structure for an aircraft includes one or more sleeves extending along an exterior of the fuel bladder. The one or more sleeves are receptive of one or more rods to at least partially suspend the fuel bladder in the aircraft. An aircraft includes a fuselage and a flexible fuel bladder disposed in the fuselage. One or more rods are installed through a portion of the fuel bladder and into a fuselage member. The flexible fuel bladder is at least partially suspended from the one or more rods. A method of installing a fuel bladder in an aircraft includes inserting a flexible bladder into a fuselage space of the aircraft. One or more rods are installed through one or more fuselage members and one or more sleeves of the fuel bladder. The one or more rods at least partially suspend the fuel bladder in the fuselage.
Latest SIKORSKY AIRCRAFT CORPORATION Patents:
The subject matter disclosed herein relates to aircraft. More specifically, the subject disclosure relates to fuel bladder structures for aircraft.
Aircraft, such as airplanes, helicopters, turbo props and tilt rotor aircraft typically often include one or more flexible containers, or bladders, for storage of fuel on board the aircraft. The bladder provides a sealed volume for the storage of fuel as an alternative to forming a sealed chamber in the aircraft structure. Mounting the bladder in such a chamber is typically difficult and costly. The bladders include fittings and/or connections for filling the bladder with fuel, outputting the fuel to an aircraft engine, and may also include ancillary components such as fuel pumps and fuel filters and vent fittings.
In a typical aircraft, most often a helicopter, the bladders are contained in sponsons, or projections from the fuselage of the aircraft. As such, the fuel bladders are contained in a space external to the fuselage and do not negatively impact cargo or passenger space in the aircraft. Further, the external location allows for easy access for installation and mounting of the fuel bladders into the sponsons.
In some instances, when installing a fuel bladder in the sponson, the bladder is placed in the sponson and secured into position by string. The bladder includes a plurality of eyelets or similar structure at a top of the bladder, and possibly at other locations around the exterior of the bladder. The interior of the sponson includes a plurality of complimentary mounting locations, and one or more strings or other are looped through the eyelets and the complimentary mounting locations of the sponson to secure the fuel bladder into position in the sponson.
In some aircraft, however, sponsons are not present or useable for installation of a fuel bladder. Thus a fuel bladder, if utilized, must be installed internal to the fuselage. In many cases, the location chosen for the bladder is surrounded by significant structure, such as keels, bulkheads, decks, etc., which do not allow access to the top, and sometimes even the sides of the bladder for installation by the typical string and loop method or other existing methods for mounting a bladder.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTIONAccording to one aspect of the invention, a flexible fuel bladder structure for an aircraft includes one or more sleeves extending along an exterior of the fuel bladder. The one or more sleeves are receptive of one or more rods to at least partially suspend the fuel bladder in the aircraft.
According to another aspect of the invention, an aircraft includes a fuselage and a flexible fuel bladder disposed in the fuselage. One or more rods are installed through a portion of the fuel bladder and into a fuselage member. The flexible fuel bladder is at least partially suspended from the one or more rods installed through the portion of the fuel bladder.
According to yet another aspect of the invention, a method of installing a fuel bladder in an aircraft includes inserting a flexible bladder into a fuselage space of the aircraft. One or more rods are installed through one or more fuselage members and one or more sleeves of the fuel bladder. The one or more rods at least partially suspend the fuel bladder in the fuselage.
These and other advantages and features will become more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings.
The subject matter, which is regarded as the invention, is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims at the conclusion of the specification. The foregoing and other features, and advantages of the invention are apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
The detailed description explains embodiments of the invention, together with advantages and features, by way of example with reference to the drawings.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTIONShown in
Referring to
Referring to
Referring now to
Referring to
Referring now to
In some embodiments, as shown in
Utilizing the rods 44 to support the bladder 18 allows the bladder 18 to be installed in fuselage spaces 28 where there is little or no access to the exterior of the bladder 18 for installation, thereby allowing for new and unique placement of the bladders 18 in the aircraft structures where available space is at a premium.
While the invention has been described in detail in connection with only a limited number of embodiments, it should be readily understood that the invention is not limited to such disclosed embodiments. Rather, the invention can be modified to incorporate any number of variations, alterations, substitutions or equivalent arrangements not heretofore described, but which are commensurate with the spirit and scope of the invention. Additionally, while various embodiments of the invention have been described, it is to be understood that aspects of the invention may include only some of the described embodiments. Accordingly, the invention is not to be seen as limited by the foregoing description, but is only limited by the scope of the appended claims.
Claims
1. A flexible fuel bladder structure for an aircraft comprising one or more sleeves extending along an exterior of the fuel bladder, the one or more sleeves receptive of one or more rods to at least partially suspend the fuel bladder in the aircraft.
2. The fuel bladder structure of claim 1, wherein the one or more sleeves are formed integral with the fuel bladder.
3. The fuel bladder structure of claim 1, wherein the one or more sleeves are disposed at a top portion of the fuel bladder.
4. The fuel bladder structure of claim 1, wherein the one or more sleeves extend between lateral sides of the fuel bladder.
5. The fuel bladder structure of claim 1, wherein the fuel bladder includes one or more additional fittings for suspending the fuel bladder in the aircraft.
6. An aircraft comprising:
- a fuselage;
- a flexible fuel bladder disposed in the fuselage; and
- one or more rods installed through a portion of the fuel bladder and into a fuselage member, the flexible fuel bladder at least partially suspended therefrom.
7. The aircraft of claim 6, wherein the fuel bladder includes one or more sleeves for installing the one or more rods therethrough.
8. The aircraft of claim 7, wherein the one or more sleeves are formed integral with the fuel bladder.
9. The aircraft of claim 7, wherein the one or more sleeves are disposed at a top portion of the fuel bladder.
10. The aircraft of claim 7, wherein the one or more sleeves extend between lateral sides of the fuel bladder.
11. The aircraft of claim 6, wherein the fuselage member is a keel of the fuselage.
12. The aircraft of claim 6, wherein the flexible fuel bladder is suspended beneath a deck of the aircraft.
13. The aircraft of claim 6, wherein the one or more rods are secured in position by one or more of a pin, cap or nut.
14. The aircraft of claim 6, wherein the fuel bladder includes one or more additional fittings for suspending the fuel bladder in the aircraft.
15. The aircraft of claim 14, wherein the one or more additional fittings are one or more vent fittings securable to one or more deck fittings of the fuselage.
16. The aircraft of claim 6, wherein the aircraft is a helicopter.
17. A method of installing a fuel bladder in an aircraft comprising:
- inserting a flexible bladder into a fuselage space of the aircraft; and
- installing one ore more rods through one or more fuselage members and one or more sleeves of the fuel bladder thereby suspending the fuel bladder in the fuselage.
18. The method of claim 17, further comprising extending the one or more rods through two fuselage members, the two fuselage members disposed at opposing lateral sides of the fuel bladder.
19. The method of claim 17, further comprising inserting the flexible bladder into the fuselage space through an access opening in a fuselage member of the one or more fuselage members.
20. The method of claim 17, further comprising installing one of a pin, cap, or nut at an end of the one or more rods to secure the one or more rods in position.
Type: Application
Filed: Feb 21, 2012
Publication Date: Aug 22, 2013
Patent Grant number: 9050691
Applicant: SIKORSKY AIRCRAFT CORPORATION (Stratford, CT)
Inventor: Steven Bofill (New Haven, CT)
Application Number: 13/401,208
International Classification: B64D 37/04 (20060101); B23P 11/00 (20060101); B64D 37/06 (20060101);